Watch: How to Build a Primitive Hut

The notion of the "Primitive Hut" has been part of the architectural discourse for decades; indeed, history suggests that it provided the Ancient Greeks with direct inspiration for Doric Order. But how do you build a wattle and daub hut, or create tiled roof, or develop primitive underfloor heating—all from scratch—today?

A YouTube channel aims to demonstrate that, even in the 21st Century, these skills haven't been entirely lost. Its creator—whose identity is unknown and is based in the far north of Queensland, Australia—describes primitive technology as a "hobby" in which he "makes things in the wild completely from scratch, using no modern tools or materials." This is the strict rule, he continues: "if you want a fire, use fire sticks; an axe, pick up a stone and shape it; a hut, build one from trees, mud, rocks." The challenge lies in seeing how far he can go without the need for the types of tools the building industry relies on today.